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Published: Sun Mar 10 2024 14:25
Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors celebrates after scoring during the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on November 05, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. source: Getty Images
The explosion in three-point shooting ushered in by Stephen Curry, alongside fellow splash bro Klay Thompson, has literally changed the game we all know and love over the past decade. Once Golden State proved that you could win a championship playing largely on the perimeter offensively, the entire league attempted to follow suit in duplicating that model. While no one has been able to do it quite like Golden State, what it produced was a lot of guys jacking up threes all willy-nilly and setting new records at breakneck speed. All that said, it’s absolutely wild to think that Draymond Green will go down in NBA history as a more prolific three-point shooter than Larry Bird.
Nope, that’s no typing error, Green has leaped over Larry Legend on the all-time three-pointers made list. Without context, that all sounds like the biggest oxymoron in NBA history. But having played his entire career in this era where everybody jacks up threes at will, Green has surpassed a player who’s considered one of the purest shooters ever to step on a basketball court.
Bird is one of only two players to win The Association’s annual three-point contest three times. Former Chicago Bulls sharpshooter Craig Hodges is the other, but Bird was so good at it, that he took the first three contests the NBA ever held. The Boston Celtics great also took home three consecutive league MVP awards in the mid-1980s as well. There was just something about Bird and the No. 3.
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